


Corpses and Devils

by Hornet394



Series: Labyrinth!AU [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Casual Sex, Double Penetration, Dubious Morality, EXO killing each other, Explicit Sexual Content, Fisting, Fivesome, Gore, Hallucinations, M/M, Mental Instability, Suicide, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 15:32:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8922649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hornet394/pseuds/Hornet394
Summary: There are a lot of things Yixing will do to protect his family, inside the unforgiving walls of the Labyrinth.  His family who had given him everything, and had taken everything away.  
(Yixing never meets Luhan - it takes four more years before he's saved by Baekhyun, and this time, the enemy is the friend and the friend is the enemy.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> An AU of an AU of the previous work, Men and Angels. It's not necessary to read that before this, but it works better that way.

****He remembers little.  He barely remembers his name, at this rate.  He has been called so many pet names that he can hardly wrap his head around all of them, _pet_ and _slut_ and _whore_ and everything in between.  There is no point in remembering, in this Labyrinth where day melds into nights until there is nothing left but never-ending darkness, lanterns lighting the twining paths of the maze.

He is roughly woken by a harsh jerk on his collar, metal banging painfully around the bruises that litter his sensitive neck.  A blade drops at his feet, and he looks up to the ginger-haired one in bewilderment through his chestnut hair.

“Make yourself useful, slut,” He gets in response, “Do Kyungsoo’s here.  We’re under attack.”  It is only then does he notice the thin trail of blood making its merry way down the ginger one’s face, and he makes a faint noise of recognition before reaching for the blade, and the ginger one unchains him from the post.

He stands up on wobbly legs, and looks over the wall of the kennel in which he was kept in.  His captors are all engaged in battle, losing against a tall man with platinum white hair, a brown-haired man with kohl underlining his eyes, and a shorter man with crimson red hair.  One of them must be Kyungsoo, the man his captors were so afraid of, but they took the chance and entered his territory.  For four years his captors have been exceptionally careful ever since they got warned off Oh Sehun’s territory, and wisely did not return, even as their supply of slave children began to dwindle.

He barely needs to think before he slides the knife right into the back of the ginger one’s neck, severing his spine in one go.  His legs threaten to give way like a newborn fawn, but his aim is steady and his captor drops like a rock.

He brushes brown hair out of his eyes as he looks around warily.  The keys aren’t on the ginger one’s body, and he’s been turning his collar over and over again for nearly a decade that he knows mere blades won’t break it.

“Who’s that?”

He freezes as he realizes that the red-haired one is referring to him, his captors all pinned on the ground with limbs going askew by the platinum white one and the kohl underlined one.  He suddenly feels severely underdressed, clad in nothing but flimsy pants that end slightly below his knees.

“You can have him!” His bearded captor says frantically, “We’ll never go into your turf again!”

The red haired one fixes the bearded one with a glare that makes his legs go weak, and his limbs start to tremble.

The kohl underlined one approaches him, then, gently removing the blade from his hands and tilting his head upwards.  “What’s your name?”  The kohl underlined one asks.

He opens his mouth, and closes it again.  He doesn’t remember.  He _has_ one, he is sure of that.  He lets out a low whine of frustration, and freezes again as he gets a low chuckle in response.

“You can’t speak?” The platinum white one asks.  Below him, his bearded captor is turning purple in the face.  He shakes his head.  He can speak, he’s just forgotten how to.

He relents immediately to the familiar pressure on his mouth, letting the kohl underlined one lick his way inside his mouth and draw back with a satisfied purr.  A finger pokes his dimple and he steps back in shock, to the other man’s delight.  “Soo, can we keep him?”

The red haired one shrugs.  “If Yeol agrees.”  The platinum white one nods his head vigorously, a mischievous smile on his face as him and the kohl underlined one exchanges a look.

“What about the kids?” The platinum white one asks, and he looks back to the cages of children stuffed into the kennels.  They look back with defiant eyes.  They speak more than he does, but it was only a matter of time before their eyes became dead and hollow.

“Just throw them the keys,” The red haired one says.  He looks on in awe as the red haired one puts two hands on the bearded one’s face, and with a sharp twist, the bearded one’s head drops onto the cement ground with a dull thud.

“Until you tell us your name, I’ll call you Lay,” The kohl underlined one says, “You’re one of us now.

Lay nods.  It’s not his name, but it’s enough.

The three of them lead him down through the winding corridors of the Labyrinth.  The red-haired one is Kyungsoo, he seems to be their leader.  He carries himself like one, at least.  The platinum one, Chanyeol, and the one who spoke to him, Baekhyun, he holds Lay’s wrist in a loose but firm grip, tugging him along.  Lay has to keep a hand on his pants to hold them up, and he stumbles to keep up.

There’s another boy, waiting for them, in the house.  Is he like Lay?

Maybe not.

“Soo, who is he?”  The boy asks, full of wide-eyed innocence.  “This is Lay,” Chanyeol introduces, resting his head on top of Lay’s own, his hands wandering over the flat planes of his stomach.  The boy gives him another wide-eyed look and hides behind Kyungsoo.

“Not now, Yeol,” Baekhyun pouts, “I found him first.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, but lets Lay go.  “Do you need to eat?”  He asks Lay.  He is about to shake his head, but Kyungsoo holds up a hand.  “You haven’t eaten much, have you?”  He asks, and Lay knows he isn’t looking for an answer.  

The boy - Jongin - brings out food for them all.  “Luhan came along today,” Jongin says, “I bought all the stuff on the list.”

“Good job,” Kyungsoo says, tearing into the meat in front of him.  

Lay reaches out a tentative hand for the basket of bread.  He hadn’t eaten any of the other food on the table before.  Better stick with the known.

He nibbles on a loaf as the four of them eat silently, digging into their own food with vigour.

“Are you done?”  Chanyeol frowns when he sees Lay fold his hands on his lap after he has finished the bread.  He nods, and suddenly the plate in front of him is filled with meat and paste.  Startled, he looks between the four of them.

“You don’t have to eat them all,” Kyungsoo says, “Your stomach will need to adjust.  But you cannot just eat carbs, alright?”

Lay’s breathing quickens and he forces himself to nod.  

The first burst of meat catches him off guard, the taste of oil and fire, of heat.  He doesn’t realize he’s getting oil all over his own hand until Baekhyun is laughing at him.

The vegetable paste tastes even better, and goes down much quicker down his scraped throat than the meat.  But his plate is still full, spilling down the edges, but his stomach is bloated.  “Don’t push it,” Baekhyun says quickly, taking his plate away and handing him a glass of water.

He takes it gratefully, and wonders what they want from him.

They give him his own room.  It’s infinitely larger than his cage, and there’s a bed, too!  With an actual mattress!  He knows these four men are not like his former masters, but it’s instinct that he kneels immediately, wanting to thank them, wanting to give them all he had.

“You need to recover,” Baekhyun stops him immediately, “While I can’t wait to fuck that ass of yours, I won’t allow you to destroy yourself like this.”

“Can you even resist him though,” Chanyeol murmurs, touching Lay’s dimple lightly, before leaving the room dragging Baekhyun behind him.  Kyungsoo smiles at him and leaves as well, and Lay is alone with his thoughts.

The mattress is soft to touch.  It feels so clean, too, that Lay is afraid that he will dirty it with his mere presence, what he represents, what he has experienced.  So instead he steps into the adjoining bath area.  He’s shocked to see there’s actual plumbing for the toilet, but he’s been beaten out of excreting where his masters could see it - his body is used to not needing it.

Instead he steps into the already full bath tub, shivering at the coldness of it, and he scrubs and scrubs and scrubs until he feels like his skin is going to be set aflame, and he is born anew.

//

It takes a few days for Lay to orient himself among the household.  Little Jongin spends most time in the kitchen, or in the bedroom, sleeping.  Kyungsoo starts teaching Lay how to cook.  Lay hasn’t managed to make something that looks spectacular, but at least they’re edible, seeing as he’s never had experience with these things before.  But Baekhyun starts getting impatient.  

The desire in his eyes are clear naked everytime he meets Lay’s, undressing him like a piece of meat for perusal.  “Come to my room tonight, Lay,” He finally cracks, and Lay nods.

He opens the door, and Baekhyun is lying on the bed, completely naked, with a teasing look on his face.

Baekhyun’s cock curls deliciously to his stomach, a much more appeasing sight than the veiny and rugged ones of his captors.  Lay obediently divests himself of his clothes, and Baekhyun puts appreciative hands on his waist as Lay straddles the man, one hand reaching behind him to guide Baekhyun’s cock to his entrance.

Baekhyun’s grip on his hips startles Lay and he looks up to see Baekhyun twisting away from him frantically, fingers wrapping around a bottle on the bedstand.  “Not without prep,” Baekhyun says firmly, pressing the bottle into Lay’s hands, “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Lay looks at the bottle.  Clear liquid rolls in it, and he looks back up at Baekhyun again in confusion.  “You’ve never,” Baekhyun licks his lips distractingly, “You’ve never been prepped before sex before?”  Lay nods his confirmation.

Baekhyun patiently uncaps the bottle, and Lay watches with rapt attention as Baekhyun coats his fingers liberally with the oil.  “This is lube.  You start with a finger,” Baekhyun explains, and Lay widens his legs to accommodate Baekhyun’s demonstration.  The finger inside him is but a pleasant burn, and maybe this time, Lay will finally understand why people like sex.

It is odd, the sensation of something thin moving inside him, wriggling, seeing, and Baekhyun quickly slips in a second.  Lay lets out a small gasp in surprise as Baekhyun starts a scissoring motion, using his two fingers to widen his entrance manually.  Then Baekhyun’s fingers catch along _something_ in his entrance and Lay cannot stop the breathless cry as he collapses slightly onto Baekhyun, clutching to his shoulders for support as the other man chuckles into his skin.  “That’s your prostate,” Baekhyun explains breathlessly, “You should see how beautiful you are.”  

He is shivering from the intense pleasure that wracks his body as Baekhyun continues to abuse his prostate, a wry smile on his lips as Baekhyun hungrily drinks up the tantalizing image Lay presents.  Lay hits him on the shoulder weakly in protest, and Baekhyun finally relents and draws his fingers out.  Lay chases that fleeting sensation of being complete and full for the first time in his life, and he sinks gratuitously on Baekhyun’s cock.

Baekhyun groans loudly as his eyes flutter shut, his hands coming to frame Lay’s hips as he gyrates above the other man, watching him carefully to see how Baekhyun likes it best.  He meets every one of Baekhyun’s thrusts, moaning wantonly as Baekhyun lifts him up and down, the lewd sound of skin smacking against skin mingled in with both of their heavy pants and groans.

“Can I?”  Baekhyun asks breathlessly, his pupils blown wide with desire.  Lay doesn’t know what Baekhyun wants to do, but he nods all the same.  In a flash Baekhyun topples him over and his back hits the mattress, Baekhyun looming over him as he begins to pound into Lay in earnest, an unforgiving grip on his hips.

A litany of moans fall from his lips as Baekhyun fucks him with hard, steady strokes, and Lay’s fingers tangles with the bedsheets uncertainly.  Then Baekhyun angles upwards, and Lay sees stars as the head of Baekhyun’s cock catches along his prostate.  Baekhyun’s mouth falls onto his chest, teasing his nipples with his tongue as his cock continues to abuse his prostate, and Lay can only lie there, close to tears, as his body is wracked with pleasure.  He never knew...

“Come for me, sweetheart,” Baekhyun rasps out, and Lay obliges with a reluctant sob, his release spurting over his chest and Baekhyun’s hands.  It’s disorienting, his whole body is so out of his own control, so floaty, but in a good way.

White spurts over his face, clinging to his eyelashes as Baekhyun leans over him, cum dripping from his cock.  “I’m not done with you yet, sweetheart,” Baekhyun grins, and he tugs Lay up.  He’s in for a long night, and maybe this time, it’s a good thing.

//

Lay sucks Chanyeol’s cock when the taller man talks business with Kyungsoo, about someone in the west, about strangers.  Lay wouldn’t know, not with the way Chanyeol pets him gently, praising him now and then.  He can feel Jongin’s intense gaze from the other side of the room, but he can hardly spare a thought for the younger when Chanyeol coaxes him up onto the table and fucks him as Kyungsoo watches.

“Tell us if you don’t want it, ok?”  Kyungsoo asks as he takes Lay from Chanyeol’s hands, turning him over so that his front is pressed against the wood, Chanyeol and his own fluids still leaking from his entrance.

Lay is addicted.  He keens loudly when Kyungsoo pushes in, his eyes meeting with Jongin’s startled ones, and Lay is addicted.  He feels so... appreciated.  He likes how they ask before they take, ask before they give, praise him, make sure he feels good, too.  

He doesn’t mind staying here, with them.  He likes it, with them.

They settle into a little routine.  They laze around until someone comes to them with a complaint, in which Lay discovers that Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun are considered to be the de facto leaders of their little region, capable of carrying out justice among its citizens.  They read, a lot.  Baekhyun has a lot of stories from the world above, some in the form of books, some in the form of memory rewrote onto paper.  Kyungsoo likes smoking, too, puffs of smoke often wafting across the room when Jongin dozes off in the man’s lap.  Chanyeol fiddles with their weapons a lot.  Kyungsoo’s blades, Baekhyun’s little trinkets (his strength lies in his legs, after all.  Lay can attest to that.) and his own explosives.  Kyungsoo gets him notebooks and pens from a man called Luhan, who is a peddlar with blonde hair and a pretty face, brown eyes that had raked all over Lay when they had met.  Lay can write, after all, the only thing he remembers his mother teaching him.  It’s far more effective than Baekhyun trying to guess what Lay wanted to say.

Sometimes, when the blood runs high, they fuck.  Although Kyungsoo and Jongin tend to stick with each other, they can be enticed into the much more wild Baekhyun and Chanyeol.  Lay?  He’s happy to do whatever they want him to do.

But there are still minute differences, between the way they treat each other, Lay has noticed.  Baekhyun and Chanyeol love each other, he is certain, seen in the way they linger in each other even after the deed is done, seen in their sometimes vanilla sex.  To them, he think he’s more like the youngest member of the group, they dote on him and he is in awe of them, always ready to please.

And there is Jongin.  Jongin is different, from Lay, from any of them.  There is someone inherent about him that makes Lay want to protect him, spoil him.  Jongin isn’t always there, anyways.  He always zones out in a middle of the conversation, says things that Lay doesn’t understand, that even Kyungsoo doesn’t understand.

But Lay knows Kyungsoo loves him, loves him so much.  Kyungsoo loves Chanyeol and Baekhyun, and maybe, if Lay can fantasize, himself as well, but it’s a different kind of love.  Kyungsoo fucks Lay like he owns him, but Kyungsoo fucks Jongin like he loves him.

And Lay loves Jongin, too.  He is so very lovable.

“Can you teach me?” Jongin blurts out one day, “How to make sex better.” Lay frowns.  “Kyungsoo isn’t complaining,” he writes out.  Jongin looks to his thighs, fiddling with his fingers.  “I want to learn,” He says, “How to make Soo feel good the same way he makes me.”

Lay cocks his head to a side.  He doesn’t think Jongin needs it, the methodical, mechanic way he knows about sex.  Find out what he likes, he writes, Baekhyun likes when I protest, and Chanyeol likes when I follow his orders.  Find out what Kyungsoo likes about sex with you.

Jongin flushes and Lay can see his breath catch.  “What about you?” He blurts out, “What does Kyungsoo like when he- when he fucks you?”

Lay pats Jongin’s head.  The boy is so endearing.  

“Maybe you should find out yourself,” Baekhyun says from the doorway, startling Jongin.  The blush that overtakes the boy is swift and intense, making Lay giggle and plant a sloppy kiss on Jongin’s cheek.

Lay drags Jongin out to Baekhyun’s room, which is the biggest of them all.  Chanyeol is already naked on the bed, grasping onto the headboard for dear life as Kyungsoo pounds into him from behind, pants pulled down just enough to expose his cock.

“What is it?”  Kyungsoo asks nonchalantly, gripping Chanyeol by his hair to yank him up.  Baekhyun leans in to kiss Kyungsoo filthily, all tongue, and Lay gets the hint to hug Jongin from behind, hands slipping underneath his shirt to caress his waist, planting kisses down the back of his neck.

“Jongin wanted Lay to teach him how to be better at sex,” Baekhyun murmurs against Kyungsoo’s plump lips, and Jongin’s squawk of indignation is swallowed down Lay’s throat.

“Why not?”  Kyungsoo smiles, and he pulls Chanyeol up roughly and dumps him on a nearby chair, “The bed’s all yours.”

Lay ferries a dazed Jongin over onto the bed, pushing him onto it before straddling him to resume their heated kiss.  Jongin is a sloppy kisser, and what he lacks in technique he makes up with enthusiasm.  Saliva dribbles down messily from where their mouths connect.  

Sitting up, Lay licks his lips and takes his clothes off, watching a red-faced Jongin catch his breath beneath him.  He turns to Baekhyun, who’s kicking his own pants off, and the man asks for him, “Nini, do you want to fuck Lay?”

Jongin’s grip tightens on his own shirt and Lay takes it as a yes, so he coaxes Jongin up wordlessly and swap positions with him, so that he’s lying on the bed with Jongin between his legs.

“Look at them,” Kyungsoo murmurs, and Lay’s heart warms up at the thought of making them proud.  He spreads his legs even further apart and coaxes Jongin closer.  The younger man’s hands are shaking slightly with inexperience as he coats his fingers with lube, but somehow it makes him even more endearing to Lay.  He gives little sounds of encouragement as Jongin preps him thoroughly, and finally hooks his ankles around Jongin’s waist when he gets impatient.

“He’s ready, Jongin-ah,” Kyungsoo murmurs huskily, “Make him feel good.”  Nodding nervously, Jongin’s hands went to Lay’s hips as he positioned his erection at his entrance, and Lay helpfully crosses his legs on Jongin’s back as he tries to spread his legs even further apart.

Behind Jongin, Chanyeol has Baekhyun trembling on his lap as they watch the show, the taller man’s hand wrapped against Baekhyun’s cock.  Next to them, Kyungsoo slowly thrusts into his own hand, eyes dark with lust.

Jongin’s first breach has Lay sighing in pleasure, and he urges Jongin to speed up.  His cock is decent-sized and fills Lay up quite nicely, and the look of concentration on Jongin’s face is simply adorable.  His thrusts start off jerky and unsure, not quite knowing how his hips worked, but Lay moans tantalizingly to his movements and fucks back against him, clenching his muscles at the right times to make Jongin moan out loud.

He reaches up a hand to cradle Jongin’s jaw, bringing the younger man closer to him to kiss him thoroughly, running another down Jongin’s quivering thigh.  He squeezes slightly and Jongin flinches, but his motions become more and more frantic as he begins to chase his release, gyrating against Lay.

Lay lets Jongin’s face go as the younger man pummels into him, eyes wide with something akin to fascination as Lay plays him like a tuned instrument, giving him the tightness that he had never experienced before.  Lay hopes he learns something out of this.

Jongin spills inside him with a shout, endearingly loud in the room as everyone is fixated on Jongin’s motions.  Lay moans appreciatively at the feeling of Jongin’s cum rolling inside him, but it is far from enough for him.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol come up and lift Jongin off Lay and let him catch his breath on the mattress next to Lay, and then both turn their devious grins on Lay’s still erect and flushed cock.

“Can we stuff you full of cock?” Chanyeol asks excitedly, framing Lay’s face with a large hand.  Lay tilts his head slightly to suck in Chanyeol’s thumb as an answer, giving the two men a coy look as he laves the appendage with appreciation.  Chanyeol gulps slightly but sinks more fingers into Lay’s willing mouth, and Lay’s eyes flutter close as he imagines Chanyeol’s thick cock in their place.

“Both Baekhyun and I inside you, and then Kyungsoo in your mouth.  Will you do it?”  Chanyeol asks hoarsely as he watches his digits thrust into Lay’s mouth.  He nods, and immediately Chanyeol withdraws his fingers with excitement.  Three of his dexterous fingers spread Lay apart, and he keens loudly for Chanyeol to hurry up.  Thankfully the taller man understands him and sends him a crooked smile, before quickly lubing up his remaining fingers.

Five digits slowly enter Lay and he sucks in a huge breath.  “Stop us if it hurts, okay?”  Kyungsoo says soothingly next to Lay’s head, and a drop of precum splashes against Lay’s cheek.  Lay chokes out an indecipherable sound as he can feel the bone of Chanyeol’s thumb against his entrance, spreading him wider than he had ever been before.  Baekhyun swoops in and kisses him thoroughly, taking the edge off, but he has never been more aware of how tight his muscles are clenching around Chanyeol’s hand, the tight heat threatening to suck the digits further into him.

With a satisfied sound Chanyeol’s hand sinks fully into his entrance, the rim fluttering weakly against the taller man’s wrist.  Faintly, Lay can hear Jongin’s aroused whimpers over his own heavy panting.  Chanyeol flexes his fingers briefly and Lay wails loudly at the stimulation, overwhelmed by the fullness.

Kyungsoo’s deep voice soothes him, as Baekhyun wipes away the tears that had leaked out of Lay’s eyes.  “You’re so good for all of us,” The older man murmurs, “I wish I could take a picture of you, right now, with Chanyeol’s fist inside you.”

Lay moans weakly at his words and Chanyeol begins to stretch Lay properly, slowly fucking him with his entire hand.  Obscene squelching sounds ring through the room as lube drips out of Lay’s hole, all the while accompanied with his broken whines.

Chanyeol deems Lay to be ready and withdraws his hand, the thickness of it making Lay keen weakly. Turning onto his stomach he sinks onto Baekhyun’s cock, the older man lying against the mattress invitingly.  Next to his head Kyungsoo waits, his cock red with arousal, pre cum glistening on it.  Baekhyun presses Lay close to him, mouthing along Lay’s shoulder and presenting his ass up for Chanyeol.  

Chanyeol’s long finger makes its way right next to Baekhyun’s cock, and both Baekhyun and Lay shudder against the sensation.  “Hurry up,” Baekhyun rasps, “He’s ready.”  Lay nods shakily in affirmation, and then he can feel Chanyeol’s cock against his entrance, the blunt head dragging along the crease of his ass before positioned above Baekhyun’s length.  

It’s still a tight fit even after the thorough prepping, and Lay muffles his cries into Baekhyun’s shoulder as Chanyeol forces his way in.  Baekhyun doesn't seem to be faring any better with the way he is clinging to Lay’s back, blunt nails digging into the soft flesh.

Chanyeol’s cock spreads Lay wide open, and all he can do is cling to Baekhyun as Chanyeol continues to press into him.  A sudden hard thrust sends both Baekhyun and Lay jostling against the mattress, moans falling from their lips as Chanyeol begins to thrust into Lay.  “Baekhyun, start moving,” Kyungsoo orders, “Don’t make Chanyeol do all the work.”

Strong hands lift Lay up briefly, and Baekhyun’s eyes screw shut as he begins to thrust upward, until Chanyeol and Baekhyun establish a rhythm between the two of them.  One thrusts in as the other withdraws, ensuring that Lay is always filled and fucked to their pleasure.

Kyungsoo kneels on the mattress, and Lay obediently takes his cock into his mouth like Chanyeol had told him to.  Without prompting Kyungsoo’s hand falls onto the nape of his neck, holding him in place as he begins to fuck his mouth, his cock hitting the back of his throat at every thrust.  A trail of saliva rolls down the side of his mouth at a particular hard thrust.  He can’t tell anymore as Baekhyun and Chanyeol fills him so well, keeping him constantly on edge as they pound into him.

He moans around Kyungsoo’s cock and the older man’s motions stutter briefly.  Kyungsoo is murmuring something under his breath, the words of which Lay cannot comprehend, but the sultry tone is enough for the coil of arousal to curl up even tighter, and he begs wordlessly with tear-filled eyes.

Kyungsoo’s hands cradle his face but he shakes his head firmly.  Lay’s sharp cry is muffled by Kyungsoo’s thick cock as Baekhyun wraps a tight hold on the base of Lay’s erection, preventing him from reaching orgasm.  His nose is pressed into the base of Kyungsoo’s cock, inhaling in the musky scent in waves.

Kyungsoo drags his cock out along Lay’s tongue, panting heavily, and Lay obediently tilts his face up even as Chanyeol and Baekhyun both thrust into him at the same time and he almost loses his balance over Baekhyun’s body.  Cum splashes against his face and he fights the urge to lick it away as Kyungsoo drags the last of his cum all over Lay’s cheeks.

Long arms lift him up from Baekhyun and someone’s cock slips out, and he is manoevered to lie on the bed.  Disoriented, he moans faintly as Chanyeol cums all over his chest, while Baekhyun continues to thrust into him.  Chanyeol’s large hand joins Baekhyun’s over his cock, and their loosened grip is all it takes for him to release in huge spurts as he thrashes against the sheets weakly.  

More tears leak out from the oversensitivity of Baekhyun’s cock, but Kyungsoo pets his hair and tells him that it’ll be over soon.  With a breathless gasp Baekhyun draws out and straddles Lay’s waist, adding onto the mess on his chest and face.

Boneless, Lay can only imagine the picture he presents as reflected in the three older men’s eyes.  Sweat-matted, covered with their cum, tear tracks on his face.  He can barely whine as Kyungsoo asks if he is okay, and Chanyeol leaves briefly for towels as he and Baekhyun cleans him up.  “You’re so good for us,” Baekhyun murmurs as he gently dabs at Lay’s stained lips, “How on earth did we get to meet someone like you?”

You saved me, Lay wants to answer, but he barely has enough strength to look at Baekhyun, let alone write anything out.  His muscles ache pleasantly and Chanyeol kisses his temple fondly.  The soothing motions of the towel against his skin lulls him to sleep.

//

In retrospect, Lay must have been very naive to consider that happiness could ever last.  Those still were his most treasured memories, however.  He would have traded anything to go back.

If he had to say, there was one exact point which placed everything in motion, like a snowball rolling off, out of track, splattered on the ground, dead.

Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun were out that day.  The guy who raised chickens had been throwing a tantrum, saying that his neighbour had let his goats wander into the chicken pen.  Jongin and Lay were resting in Jongin’s bedroom, Jongin dozing off with his head on Lay’s stomach, Lay petting Jongin as he read some of Baekhyun’s novels.

Footsteps.  Lay perked up, and so did Jongin.  “S-” Lay slapped a hand over Jongin’s mouth.  Kyungsoo wouldn’t be this quiet - he wouldn’t be trying to hide his own footsteps in his own house.

Crawling off the bed, he peeked through the keyhole in the door.  Honey blonde hair, a smug smile on his pretty, pretty face - His eyes widen.  He recognizes this man, this man who had seemed harmless, who had only been a footnote in his story.  He watches as Luhan the peddlar easily side steps the traps on the ground, as if he had already expected them to be there.  He’s dangerous.

Stranger, Lay writes down furiously, listening to the footsteps come nearer, Go find them, Lay writes shakily, tapping the paper a few times to makes sure Jongin gets the severity of it.  “Me?  Wouldn’t you be better?”  Jongin asks fearfully.  I can’t climb through the window, Lay answers, And you run faster.  Go.  He underlines the last word a few times and points to the window.

Jongin scrambles up and pulls open the window, but he turns at the last second with a terrified gaze.  Lay taps the notebook again and the boy is gone.  The footsteps are getting closer, and Lay ducks behind the door, grabbing the crowbar that Baekhyun put there for self-defense.  The door creaks open.

The shadow enters the room, and Lay lunges.  Shocked brown eyes meet his defiant gaze as he sweeps the crowbar onto the man’s legs, and the sharp end catches painfully against the bones.  A harsh snarl erupts in the room and Luhan clutches Lay by the neck, and his feet leave the ground briefly before his head is slammed brutally against the wall.

His eyes roll back in his head as he gasps in pain, and he claws against the arms that hold him desperately as he can feel Luhan’s unrelenting hold on his windpipe.

“You little shit,” He can hear Luhan hiss, “You’ll just have to take his place.”  Tears leak involuntarily out of his eyes as he struggles in vain.

He can hear it then, the sound of limbs crashing the door open, and so does Luhan.  Lay collapses like a log on his hands and knees, oxygen scraping against his throat.  The glint of a metal comes down and he shrivels to the right, and the crowbar leaves two bloodied scars on his left arm, tearing through the sleeve and flesh.

A soundless cry is ripped from his mouth as he crawls alongside the wall, hands scrabbling desperately for any sort of weapon to fend himself with, and he can feel the bloodtrail he is spilling against the cement floor.

There’s a commotion out there, and Luhan is distracted.  Lay can’t let Luhan get to Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo.  Can’t let him get to sweet little Jongin.  With a burst of strength he rips the crowbar out of Luhan’s hands and sends it smashing into the other man’s skull.

He keeps hitting, and hitting, he needs to keep Jongin safe, needs to keep his heaven safe, until Chanyeol’s calloused hands grasp his forearms lightly, taking the crowbar out of his hands.  Lay collapses on the floor in relief.  Chanyeol’s voice is disruptive and dissonant, and Lay sinks into his embrace as arms wrap him up.

When he comes to, Jongin is slumped across his numb arm.  He moves it briefly and the younger man bolts awake, hair all over the place and dark circles under his eyes.  “Soo!” Jongin cries immediately, “He’s awake!”  Lay stares blearily at him as the rest of the group shuffles into the room.

“How are you feeling?”  Baekhyun asks as he crouches at the other side of the bed.  Lay touches the dark circles around his eyes in question.  “We were worried about you,” Baekhyun admitted, “Most of your wounds are patched up, but I’m afraid there will be some scars.”

They still sting, but Lay shakes his head to show that he’s fine with anything.  Instead he reaches for Jongin, and the boy lets Lay run fingers down his face.  Jongin is safe.  Everyone’s alright.

“Lay, did Luhan say what he was here for?” Kyungsoo asks, and almost automatically Lay looks around for the man’s dead body.

He shakes his head, thinks, then nods.

“Tell me, what was he after?”  Kyungsoo asks, and there’s no room of adjustment in his voice.  Kyungsoo wants to hear it from him.

“What was he after?” Kyungsoo repeats.  Lay opens his mouth, tries to say it.  He’s forgotten how muscles work, how his tongue is supposed to move.  He tries to sit up and make to move for his room to get the notebook, but Baekhyun stops him with a gentle hand on the wrist.  “Try using your words, Lay,” He says softly.  

He plops back down on the bed again, wincing slightly at the acute pain in his waist, and he fists the sheets between his fingers as he struggles to speak.  He knows how to spell it, he knows how it sounds, and the word hangs at the edge of his mouth.  He brings his teeth together, stuffs his tongue forward.  A breathy sound comes out, but it isn’t the one he wants.  He tries again, but the letters don’t translate.  Tears leak out of his eyes in frustration, and he squeezes them shut, burying his face in his palms as he struggles to use his voice.  “Take your time,” Chanyeol says patiently, petting Lay on the head gently, and Jongin snuggles up to his right.

He looks up at Baekhyun despairingly, not understanding why they were making him speak, why couldn’t they let him write it out?  Taking a shuddering breath, he tries again.  

Jongin’s name comes out all wrong, but it’s there, and once it starts he can’t stop, he tells them about Luhan wanting Lay to take Jongin’s place for something, he tells them how Luhan had known about the traps, and the words are all wrong, all wrong, all wrong but all four of them look so, so proud of him and he can’t help but cry.

Kyungsoo tells them that there’s something fishy about Luhan’s appearance.  The shirt he has on, it’s not Luhan’s.  “It’s Tao’s,” Kyungsoo says with a grimace, “Only he owns band shirts like these.  I’m a hundred percent sure if Luhan had managed to kill you, he’d have left the shirt there to blame it on Tao.”

“Who’s Tao?”  Lay croaks out.

“He’s a man that holds to the west, alongside his companion, Kris,” Kyungsoo explains, “You can think of them as the opposite to us.”

Lay wants to ask if they’re as kind, too, but he swallows it in his throat.

Kyungsoo brings Lay and Baekhyun along to his meeting with Kris.  Jongin and Chanyeol has filled in the horror stories of what Kris and Tao are infamous of, but Lay knows better than to judge people by rumours.  He thinks Chanyeol just wants to try and scare him at night, but Lay will not give him that privilege.

An abandoned house serves as the middle ground, and Lay stands with Baekhyun behind Kyungsoo as he sits opposite side to Kris.  Kris looks to be a very intimidating man at first glance, and Lay understands where Chanyeol and Jongin’s stories come from.  His face are sharp angles, and his towering physique is apparent underneath the plain shirt and pants.  Behind him stands Tao, a lean, younger man with eyes that look like they could kill, and his mouth is set in a grim line.

They talk about the shirt, and Kris reveals Luhan’s last visit, which was rudely interruped by a man named Sehun.

“He didn’t say why,” Kris frowns, “He just wanted to fight.  So... we did a mock battle, him and Luhan on one side, me and Tao on the other.  It was fun, while it lasted.”

“Then there must be a third man,” Baekhyun points out, “Two to distract both of you, one to steal the shirt.”

“But why?”  Tao asks, “Why of all people, my shirt?  Why try and turn us against each other?”

“Only they will know,” Kyungsoo snorts, “It doesn’t matter, anyway.  What matters is that he tried to attack one of our men.  Lay here killed Luhan, but he won’t be the last.”

At the mention both Kris and Tao rakes appreciative eyes over him, with appraisal.  “Luhan isn’t an easy foe to take down,” Kris says, “I am glad you are with us today.  I look forward to knowing you.”

And Lay recognizes his tone of voice very acutely, because Baekhyun starts grinning and Kyungsoo snorts heavily, while Tao has perked up childishly.

But Lay is uncertain.  He looks to Baekhyun, looks to Kris, looks to Tao, and back at Kyungsoo.  Both Kris and Tao are very, very attractive man, and Lay can go hard already from pure imagination, but...

“You can have sex with him, if you want,” Baekhyun says amusedly, “It’s your choice.”  Lay frowns, shifting his feet nervously.  Baekhyun grasps him by the back of the neck.  “Listen, Lay,” He says solemnly, “We don’t own you.  You don’t owe us anything.  You are the master of your own fate, and only you yourself know what you want.  So don’t think about us, okay?  Just do what you want.”

Lay bites his lip nervously, and turns to look at Kyungsoo.  The older man nods at him with a smile at the edge of his lips, and Lay turns his gaze up to Kris and Tao.  “Be nice to him,” Baekhyun pats Tao on the back.  “Of course we will,” Kris replies, eyes never leaving Lay, “He’s so cute.”

Lay’s face flames slightly, but he can’t help the small, smug smile as Kris’ large hands come around his waist, and he leans slightly into the touch.

“Ahhhh Soo--” Baekyun suddenly whines, “Why is Lay so desirable?”

“Come on,” Kyungsoo laughs, “Let’s go give Kris and Tao some privacy.  Unless... that’s something you’re into.”

“No thank you,” Tao purrs, dark fingers resting on the back of Lay’s neck, drawing his attention with a filthy tongue-filled kiss.

Clothes fly across the place, and he’s dwarfed by the two of them, barely able to keep his eyes open as Kris holds him up by the waist, abusing his nipples with his tongue and teeth.  He feels so fragile in Kris’ hands, like Kris can easily break him into two (so can Kyungsoo or Chanyeol, but Kris looks like he will).

Tao, on the other hand, is like an insatiable kitten, lapping at Lay’s hole as he kneels, Kris at his front sucking at his chest, Tao crouched behind him.

He muffles his overly lewd sounds with his hands, until Tao wrenches his hands backward.  “Don’t try and hide from us,” Kris mutters before sealing his lips over Lay’s own, swallowing his near screams filthily.

Lay is sobbing from overstimulation by the time Kris finally fucks him on all fours, thick, full cock barging inside him, fingers settled comfortably at the base of Lay’s cock as it has been the whole time, keeping him from coming.

“He fills you up so much, don’t you?”  Tao is rasping seductively, pumping his own cock furiously, pre-cum smearing all over Lay’s face, “You’re just a toy, a vessel for his pleasure.”

Lay sobs out his agreement as Kris rams him against his cock, his limbs all out of control as his entire body is held up by Kris.  Tao soon slides his own cock inside, Lay’s inner muscles squeezing them religiously, his face buried in Tao’s strong shoulders.

“Fuck me,” Lay gasped out loudly at the intense heat burrowed deep into him, Kris’ hot length screwing directly onto his prostate, Tao’s cock pressing harshly against his abdomen.  If he looked down, he knew he would be able to see a slight bump in his stomach from their combined thickness.

//

Now with his voice back, Kyungsoo starts to bring Lay out of the house.  He puts names to faces, he finally understands where all the food is coming from, and he sees the scared, fearful, angry looks they all cast to him, because they’re too afraid to look Kyungsoo in the eyes.

He tries to invite Jongin along, but the boy refuses immediately.

“We haven’t seen you in a long time,” A strange man stops Kyungsoo and Lay one day, and his eyes dance along Lay’s features.  “Everything holding up there?”

“Yes, thank you,” Kyungsoo replies politely, then turns to introduce Lay to the man.  “This is Junmyeon,” He says, “He’s one of our allies.”

“Hello,” Lay says in a small voice.  There’s something about Junmyeon that makes him instinctively relax, instinctively want to make Junmyeon like him.  Junmyeon seems to have the same train of thought.

“I remember you,” Junmyeon starts, hesitatingly.  “I- I remember you.”  He takes out a scrap of fabric, and there are some symbols on it.  Kyungsoo averts his eyes in respect, but Lay cannot take his eyes off them.  They are shaped like hexagons, like mazes, strange scribbles.  There’s something in Junmyeon’s eyes.  Regret?  Fear?  Hope?

“You look exactly like your mother,” He said, “I- She was my little sister.  We lost her, and you.  She named you Yixing.”

Yixing.  He mouths the name, turns it between his teeth delicately as Junmyeon and Kyungsoo watches him.  It’s familiar, the name.  He remembers being Yixing, even though the memories are patched and messy.

“It suits you,” Kyungsoo says, “Do you want us to call you that, now?”

“I- I’d like that,” Yixing murmurs back, shy.

With a name, his _proper_ name, Yixing feels... complete.  He will always treasure his identity as Lay, given by Baekhyun, given by Chanyeol, given by Kyungsoo, but Yixing, this name, it’s _his_.

Junmyeon gives him a half smile, but there are too many butterflies in Yixing’s stomach to care.

In Junmyeon’s hands, the image of the symbols, the hexagons and scribbles are burnt into his mind.

//

And it all falls apart, just like that.

Yixing wakes up in the middle of night to see Chanyeol crashing through the door, a pale Baekhyun in his arms.  “My stuff,” Kyungsoo hisses, snapping Yixing out of his daze and lunging for the medkit.

It’s ugly.

Baekhyun’s eyes are unfocused.  He’s not there.  His legs are wrangled beyond repair, and bone sticks out of where his left kneecap should be.  “Take Jongin and go,” Chanyeol shouts, stuffing a towel in between Baekhyun’s teeth.

Yixing whips around, and there’s Jongin, tears welling in his eyes, collapsing against the doorframe.

This was the first time Yixing noticed him, behind Jongin, the man with huge, feathery white wings, with honey blonde hair and big brown eyes, a smug smile on his pretty, pretty face.

He opens his mouth, closes it, and hauls Jongin back into his room, closing the door.  Jongin is trembling, trembling so hard, so Yixing takes the blankets and cover Jongin’s ears, creating ear-muffs.  He doesn’t know how much of the screaming it blocks out, but he has to do something.

When the noise stops, it is Jongin who pats Yixing from where he is frozen in a fetal position, hands still clamped over the blankets that muffle Jongin’s ears.  Chanyeol is there, by the door, and he reaches for Yixing like a lost child.  He’s been crying, too.

“Baekhyun’ll live,” Kyungsoo says, the last to come in.  His voice doesn’t sound as hopeful as his words indicate.

It takes a few days for Chanyeol to explain everything.  There was a man with rainbow-coloured hair - Sehun, Junmyeon recognized him as - who sought revenge for Luhan.  Yixing freezes up at the tinkling laughter that only he can hear.

“We won’t let you get hurt,” Chanyeol vows, cupping Yixing’s face with his hands, “Soo and I will go hunt him down.  This is our job.”

But it wasn’t Kyungsoo or Chanyeol who killed Luhan, it was Yixing, it was Lay, and he’s a liability to them all.  “Take care of Baekhyun when we’re gone, ok?”  Kyungsoo says, planting a kiss on Yixing’s jaw.

“Take Jongin with you,” Yixing pleads, “If Sehun knows- he’ll come here.  I can’t- take Jongin with you.”

Kyungsoo nods, crisply, and then the three of them are gone after some hasty packing, leaving Yixing alone with his silence.

Baekhyun’s sleep is troubled.  One pantleg is completely empty.  Chanyeol had mentioned that they had to cut it off, Sehun had used poison on his weapons.  The other leg looks shriveled, bony, fragile.

Yixing buries his face into the crook of Baekhyun’s elbow and cries.

//

When he wakes up, Baekhyun is also awake.

“Go,” Baekhyun says, voice monotonous and dead.  “What use am I without my legs?”

“Don’t say that,” Yixing replies shakily, “Please don’t say that.”

Yixing isn’t going to let Baekhyun waste away.  With Junmyeon’s help they get him a makeshift wheelchair, and Yixing’s always hovering around, helping him wash out, makes sure he eats, makes sure he sleeps, alright?

But it doesn’t seem to help.  Yixing doesn’t know what he’s doing wrong, doesn’t know what he’s not doing enough.  Baekhyun isn’t getting better.  He’s not here.

He’s washing Baekhyun’s back.  He’s forgone the kohl long ago, and his eyes are sunken and lost.  His hair is gritty no matter how much Yixing washes them.

“You’ve lost weight.”

Yixing freezes slightly.  “Have I?”  He asks Baekhyun.  He touches his stomach, and he can feel the ribs.  “Perhaps.” He continues.

“You- you need to take care of yourself, okay?” Baekhyun says, “Promise me, Lay.”

Yixing nods as he gives Baekhyun his plate.  He can’t cook as well as Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, but he tries.  Baekhyun stuffs the mashed potatoes into his mouth, and Yixing follows, until both their plates are empty, but Yixing doesn’t feel like there’s anything in his stomach.

He tucks Baekhyun into bed after washing the older man, and Baekhyun traces the black eye circles that adorn Yixing’s face.  “I like you with more fat on your face,” Baekhyun says, letting his hands fall back.  Yixing has the feeling that was not what he wanted to say.

Yixing helps Baekhyun lie on his side, back towards himself, and Baekhyun speaks again.

“Do you love me?” his voice is desperate, begging for Yixing to give him the answer he wants to hear.

“You saved me,” Yixing whispers back, brutally honest.  He owes Baekhyun that much.  He doesn’t realize he’s crying until Baekhyun starts watering up too, turning onto his back with effort and reaching a hand out to touch Yixing’s tears with shaky fingers.  No matter how hard he wishes, he isn’t who Baekhyun needs, isn’t who Baekhyun wants.  He isn’t who Baekhyun loves, and he can’t love Baekhyun the way Baekhyun needs right now.  

He notices the man standing there then, standing behind Baekhyun.  The man follows him when Yixing leaves to his own room, after Baekhyun has cried himself to sleep.  The man stares at him, a smug smile on his pretty, pretty face.  

Yixing supposes this is retribution.

“Are you just going to stand there?”  He asks out loud.  Luhan cocks his head to a side.

Yixing rushes over and drives his fist right into Luhan’s gut.  The older man doubles down in pain, but his face is still serene, his wings unruffled.  Yixing straddles him, punching him in the face, until blood coats his fingers, until his own bones bruise, until his tears and snot mix together, and he’s crying, crying, crying.

And still he’s there.

Yixing wakes up at some point slumped against the walls, Baekhyun’s still asleep.  Picking himself up, he washes off the blood on his hands, grimacing as they sting.  At least he can feel pain.  He looks up into the mirror, and he barely recognizes the man that stares back at him.  He doesn’t feel alive anymore.

//

Kris, Tao and Junmyeon comes by every now and then to check on them, but Yixing reassures them he’s okay.  And he is, actually, more than fine.  The supplies are plentiful and it’s not hard work, taking care of Baekhyun, being his legs.  It’s the silences he can’t bear, the way Baekhyun just stares out into the grey walls and rusty lanterns, his eyes dead and hopeless.  It’s the way Baekhyun doesn't smile anymore, doesn’t ask Yixing for anything anymore.  It was much simpler, Yixing grimaces, when he was just Lay, when he was nobody.  When it was just sex, living every day like it was his last.  Much simpler days.  Sometimes he wishes Luhan wasn’t dead, so that Yixing could tear him to pieces over and over again.

Then he is reminded that Luhan is not dead, instead living forever in the corner of Yixing’s eyes, a smug smile on his pretty, pretty face.

“You’re not okay,” Kris says petulantly.  And it shows, the way Kris can now jerk Yixing onto his lap without effort, the way Yixing no longer flails.  It shows in the way he topples over when Tao hugs him, and it shows as Tao’s no longer touching flesh, but bone.  They are trying to love him, trying to show Yixing that they love him, and Yixing _wants_ to be loved by them, but it’s hard.  He cannot reciprocate their fiery kisses, cannot reciprocate their touches, their love.

Junmyeon, on the other hand, talks.  “Baekhyun doesn’t need you,” Junmyeon points out levelly, “And you’ve known it for a long time.”

“I cannot leave him,” Yixing tells him.  Junmyeon fixes him with an earnest gaze, a silent prayer of a child hoping for someone to believe him, a little child who remembers the cascading of bombs, the putrid smell in the air until he woke up in the middle of a grey prison, far away from his family and home.  “You’re hurting yourself,” He says, reaching a hand out to caress Yixing’s cheek.  “Every time I see you, something’s missing from you.”

But Yixing is selfish, too.  This is something he’s chosen for himself, not out of obligation or to repay anything, for Yixing knows he’s done enough for Baekhyun, but out of the fact that he _can_.  And he will, until Chanyeol comes back, until Kyungsoo comes back, until Jongin comes back, and he would never leave.

“Did I tell you about Jongdae?”  Junmyeon says suddenly one day, out of the blue.  Kris and Tao are intercepting a revenge kill on Kyungsoo’s behalf.  Baekhyun is in his room.  He said he wanted to sleep.

“No.” Yixing answers, putting down his book.  It’s the heaviest in their collection, a bible that Junmyeon had given them.

“Jongdae was a good kid,” Junmyeon continues, “He killed himself.”  Yixing hums in acknowledgement.  

Junmyeon takes Yixing’s hands in his own, as if he is about to say something terrible.

“Do you remember the symbols?  The hexagons, the scribbles, at my place.”  He says abruptly.

“Yes,” Yixing says, “I remember them.”  How could he not?

“Jongdae was driven mad by them,” Junmyeon says calmly, not meeting Yixing's eyes.  “He couldn’t stand the sight of his angel, and he killed himself.  Everyone who sees these symbols have their angels.”

Yixing takes his hands back.

“You’ve been showing everyone those symbols,” Yixing’s breathing quickens, “You’re killing us all.”

“Death is the only liberation,” He gives a small, twisted smile, “Our very existence is a lie.  Even right now the angel looks at me, invades my nights.  He never speaks, just stands there and watches me.”

“What does he look like?” Yixing asked softly, rubbing Junmyeon’s hands comfortingly.  The older man’s voice is thick with tears.  “He looks just like Jongdae,” Junmyeon chokes out, “He looks just like him.”

Behind Junmyeon, he stands there, with a smug smile on his pretty, pretty face.

“Do you see them, too?”

Yixing nods rapidly.  Luhan nods, as well.

“They’re your regret, and fear, the things that anchor you into this world.  I call them angels,” Junmyeon explains, “Angels are something that... people from the above used to believe in.”

“I know,” Yixing responds, “I’ve read about them.”

An unasked and unanswered question hangs between them.

//

Kyungsoo and Jongin are back.  There’s stubble on Kyungsoo’s chin, and Jongin has gained some muscle.  What have they done?

Where’s Chanyeol?

That is the question Baekhyun asks immediately, and in his haste, falls off the bed with a sickening thud.  His brittle legs are exposed immediately as the blanket falls off, and Jongin cannot control his shocked gasp.  

Baekhyun drags the heavy blankets over his useless limbs, but it is plain as day how much they have regressed.  A stump at the knee is all that is left of his left leg, and his right leg has lost all of the muscle that Baekhyun had been so proud of.  They are mere loose skin hanging over bone.  

“I look ugly, don’t I?  I’m so glad Chanyeol isn’t here yet, where is he?”

Kyungsoo and Jongin exchange a significant glance.  It’s clear that there’s something going on here, that Kyungsoo and Jongin have deliberated upon, and it unnerves Yixing.

“Yixing, sit down,” Kyungsoo orders as he wraps Baekhyun up in the blanket, lifting him back on the bed.

“Sehun found us, along with another man.  His name is Minseok,” Kyungsoo begins to say, “We fought.  We fled.  They chased, they escaped.  A cat and mouse, for weeks, only we weren’t quite sure who the cat and who the mouse was.  Sehun wanted to take revenge for Luhan, it seems like he didn’t know it was you.  He assumed it was me.  We didn’t bother correcting him.  Then- that man, Minseok, he’s very cunning, and Sehun is strong as well.  We were running out of options.

“Chanyeol trapped Minseok and set off a sea of explosives around them.  We could barely separate the two bodies afterwards.”

The ground rumbles and shakes and Yixing slumps against the wall, his breathing quickening, until it drowns him, takes him under, fills his lungs.   _No._  Forever it had been Chanyeol and Baekhyun and Kyungsoo and Jongin, not Chanyeol _and_ Baekhyun and Kyungsoo and Jongin, _no._

“No!”  Baekhyun shouts loudly, “Chanyeol- Chanyeol- don’t you dare tell me he died for nothing!”

“Baekhyunnie, he didn’t,” Kyungsoo is quick to soothe, “Minseok won’t be attacking us anytime soon.”

“Why is this happening to us?”  Baekhyun wails, and he pushes away Yixing’s hands, “Where is Chanyeol?  Give him back to me!”

And Baekhyun is breaking down, Baekhyun is falling apart, because Chanyeol is gone, Chanyeol has fallen apart.  Yixing can hold him, but he cannot hold him together.  Instead, Baekhyun is turning into dust, falling through his fingers no matter how desperately he claws apart reality.

When Baekhyun has fainted, when he’s tucked into bed, Kyungsoo takes Yixing into the next room.  

“I don’t think Minseok was suspecting a suicidal run,” Kyungsoo sighs, “It’s been a long time; We’ve come to terms with it.  We’ve been lucky, having survived for so long.  It’s time for us to collect our dues, after all.

“Tonight, take Jongin and run, ok?  I won’t be leaving here alive.  Baekhyun... death will come as a relief.”

“What do you mean?”  Yixing’s question is voiced by Jongin, whose entry had gone undetected.  His eyes are glazed over with infuriation.  “What do you mean, Soo?  Are you going to leave me alone?”

“Jongin, please,” Kyungsoo pleads.  Yixing cannot imagine Kyungsoo pleading, but now this strong, stoic man is on his metaphorical knees, begging this boy to listen to him.  “Jongin, we’re out of supplies.  Our wounds are fresh.  I will end this all with Sehun, you don’t need to be involved in this.  I need you to take care of Lay.”

“Yixing, you mean,” Jongin interrupts.

“Yes, yes, yes, Yixing,” Kyungsoo rambles, “Please, Jongin, take care of him.”

“I can handle this, ok?”  Jongin says, “I can fight, too!”  

“Nini, those few fights you saw when you were with me and Chanyeol, they won’t compare to Sehun and Minseok,” Kyungsoo pleads, “Please, be safe and stay with Yixing.”

Jongin’s much more outspoken now, Yixing realizes, had he never left the house before that?  “Stay with me, Jongin,” He says, I need to protect my innocent Jongin.  The Jongin before he had left with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo would have never said no to Kyungsoo.

“No!”  Jongin says, “I won’t let you go on a suicide mission!”

“Please, Jongin, Sehun is very strong,” Kyungsoo says, “Stay with Yixing.”

“Soo, Xing, I’m not a child anymore!”  Jongin shakes his head petulantly, “I can handle myself!  I’m not losing you like we lost Chanyeol!  I won’t allow it!”

And Yixing never hears the end of it, because the world erupts into fire.

He is slammed against a wall, rubble falling around him.  “Run!”  Kyungsoo gasps, “He’s here!”

And Yixing doesn’t understand - how did this happen?

It is much later does Yixing realize that Sehun could have never laid a trap for Kyungsoo and Jongin that quickly, in the few hours they had been in the house.  The bombs had been here long ago, perhaps even before Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and Jongin’s departure, perhaps before Baekhyun’s legs, perhaps even before Luhan’s death.

There’s Sehun’s rainbow-coloured hair in the distance, a wolf surveying its prey, satisfied with what it sees.  Yixing plays dead.

It takes forever before Sehun leaves, rounding the corner of the Labyrinth, entering the maze, leaving the small area that used to house Yixing’s home.

None of the rubble actually hit him, so with remarkable ease he drags himself out.  The entire house have collapsed, but the Labyrinth walls are still intact despite the explosion.  Fire is everywhere.

Kyungsoo is on his knees.

“Please just leave,” Kyungsoo chokes out.  He looks surprisingly vulnerable hunched over the pool of blood.  Yixing wants to apologize, to say something, to do something.  He loved Jongin, too.  “I don’t want to hate you too,” Kyungsoo cries out, “Lay, just leave.”

Yixing doesn’t bother looking for Baekhyun’s body.

He stumbles through the Labyrinth - he doesn’t know - what is he, without Baekhyun, without Chanyeol, without Kyungsoo, without Jongin.  He finds himself outside Junmyeon’s settlement, tears streaming down his face.  He doesn’t notice he’s barefeet until some of the kind women that brings him in fusses over them.

“These things happen,” Junmyeon comforts him when Yixing tells him about what had happened, “Now, at least, Minseok is dead.  Luhan is dead.”

“Junmyeon,” Yixing asks, “Is there any way to turn back time?”  He gets a wistful smile in return.  

“I wish we had,” Junmyeon says, “But that would take a miracle from God.  There is no God in this Labyrinth.”

Yixing can’t feel the tears anymore.

“I know reality exists,” Junmyeon says carefully, gauging Yixing’s reaction, “I’ve been there.  I’ve seen everything the books say, and I’ve lived it.  But don’t you notice, Yixing, that every single time, in almost every novel, there will always be some people who are different?  Who are in their own world, who people deem ‘strange’ or ‘peculiar, do you?”

Yixing thinks, and he recalls Luna Lovegood, he recalls Dory, and in his own little twisted story, Jongin.  

“What if we’re the peculiar ones?”   Junmyeon laughs, “What if that’s why we see this world, instead of the ones in the books?  Why can’t we see reality?

“What I think is this.  The angels will lead us away.  The angels will lead us into the real world, the world where we come from.  This is what I believe in.”

And Yixing  _wants_ to believe Junmyeon, so very desperately.  So does Junmyeon.

//

Perhaps it should bother the both of them that Yixing is the son of Junmyeon’s sister, but in the walls of the Labyrinth, there’s no such thing.

Junmyeon is gentle, but no less devious in dragging it out, reducing Yixing to a mess, begging loudly for Junmyeon, tears running down his face as Junmyeon eats him out leisurely, taking his mind off everything.  When the night is over, Yixing boneless on Junmyeon’s bed, Junmyeon’s cock still buried inside him, warm cum sloshing within Yixing as he shifts his legs.

“Thank you for giving me this night,” Junmyeon says as he nuzzles Yixing from behind, “Kris and Tao are planning on heading up north, just to leave this area.  You should join them.”

And Yixing knows why Junmyeon said this, because in the morning, Junmyeon has joined Jongdae in his sleep.  Yixing didn’t even realize he had the pills.  Would he had stopped Junmyeon?  Probably not.

He doesn’t wait around for the people to discover Junmyeon’s death.  He disappears, making his way down to Kris’ with some of Junmyeon’s papers, plastering the rest all over the corridors he passes.  He knows Junmyeon would have wanted to do that - Junmyeon wanted to save everyone, after all.  And deep down, selfishly, Yixing wants to be saved, too.

Tao is startled to see him, and Yixing doesn’t realize he had forgotten to put his shoes on until then.  They take him in, but they don’t mention what happened just the day before.

Kris is looking at him, hands cradling his face, but his eyes are searching, searching for something Yixing no longer has.  

Tao can no longer look Yixing in the eyes.

He begs Kris and Tao to take him apart, and they do, but at the end of the night, when his head is pillowed on a snoring Kris’ chest, Tao’s long limbs slung over his torso, he can’t fall asleep.  He can’t fall asleep.

So he leaves, watches Kris curl up to Tao in his absence, and he leaves.  Because he has only one purpose in life, now.

His angel follows, as he always does, with that smug smile on his pretty, pretty face.

It doesn’t take long to track Sehun down.  Asking around for the man with the rainbow-hair, avoiding trouble.  He shows everyone the symbols.  He doesn’t have any of the skill the men in his life have, but he pushes through with pure will.  If in doubt, reverting back to his only strength helps, even though it disgusts him now to bare himself in front of strangers.  His heart has long gone, to those four men, to those two men, to that one man.

And then, Lay finds Sehun, and this time he makes sure that he doesn’t have the symbols on him, because Sehun doesn’t deserve it.

And Sehun recognizes him, judging from the mocking smile he receives.  His blade is hidden behind his back.  Luhan is standing behind Sehun, eyes appraising.

Yixing is scared, very scared, but he is also very, very angry.

Because _he_ is the man who had destroyed _everything_ Yixing held dear, _he_ is the man that destroyed Yixing’s _everything_.  Sehun lunges forward and Yixing doesn’t dodge, doesn’t miss the satisfied look in his eyes.

The blade punctures his lungs and blood is clogging up his throat, but Yixing’s blade also finds its mark.  Sehun is choking too, eyes wide, scared, terrified, as he presses his hands to the wound on his neck, but the blood is gushing out too quickly, and he falls down before Yixing does.

Some satisfaction, then, at seeing Sehun leave this world before himself.  

Yixing doesn’t even bother pulling the blade out - no one can save him now.  Tired, he closes his eyes, sliding down the walls of the Labyrinth to lie against it.  Where is Kris, where is Tao?  Will they miss him?  Where is Kyungsoo?  Is he alright?  It doesn’t matter.  Yixing has showed them the symbols.  They’ll be there when he wakes up.

Someone’s clapping.  Slow, methodical, measured.  Yixing opens his eyes and there his angel is, bringing his hands together in mockery, stepping over Sehun’s prone body.

What had Junmyeon said?  He is Yixing’s regret and fear.  He is what made Lay Yixing.  He is the only reason Yixing is here, lying in his own pool of blood, awaiting death.

There is blood staining his wings, dying it a russet-brown.  The colour of a dying sunset.

What is a sunset, beyond inked words?

The world spins around, cherry blossoms, stained glass, something green, something alive.  Tao, as an angel, in the corner of the room.  Why?  What is this?  Luhan, warm, soft.  Kyungsoo with red hair, a mess of flesh and blood.  Soft pressure on his lips, foreign, but at the same time familiar, as if coming from an alternate universe.

Where is he going?

All he knows is that through it all, there is that smug smile on his pretty, pretty face.

Yixing is liberated.

 

 

_Metaphorically, the people in the Labyrinth are the ostracized of the community.  They’re the ones who don’t share mutual experiences and rules as the mainstream - they’re the ones who invented their own method of surviving.  The Labyrinth, in this sense, is this disembodied cage that men have put these special people inside, labelling them as lost, labelling them as defective, to the extent that these special people start to believe them, too, believe that they are lost, believe that they need to rejoin the mainstream.  The irony is that the theories that expanded are those that differ even further from the mainstream, and no one in the labyrinth would have even considered mainstream developments.  They could’ve created a new community, a “normal” community that operates to the standards that we understand “society” is, but instead they’ve chosen another path.  They’re inherently different. The angel, then, is a representation of their faith and desire to ‘be normal’, to believe in something that normal humans do. Only, the angel represents the supernatural; the non-human._

More content-wise material:

 

  * Should have tagged incest in the first part, but to be fair in the first part Junmyeon never revealed his identity.


  * Junmyeon knew Yixing was his nephew even in the first part. That’s why he wanted to fuck him.


  * Because Junmyeon holds Jongdae so precious, that’s why Junmyeon never had sex with him, despite Jongdae’s desires. He’s afraid of the day he’ll get tired of Jongdae and hurt him.   Worse, he doesn’t want Jongdae to get tired of an old man like him and leave him.  He still did.


  * Jongin is the slightly loopy one at the beginning - he’s the one that experienced love as it is, he’s the one who’s led a normal life, until he started witnessing the atrocities and the things inside the Labyrinth.  Soo, on the other hand, starts out as being completely accustomed to the realities of the Labyrinth; similarly, because he is so aware of these realities at the end he witnesses Jongin’s change, and it’s not one he can wrap his head again.  At that point, Kyungsoo doesn’t want to kill anymore, doesn’t want Jongin to lose himself any more.  Kyungsoo becomes the “loopy” one, forgetting Yixing’s name, being out of character, he’s desperate to be away from the Labyrinth.  Hence, the two of them switch attitudes and places.


  * Junmyeon’s angel in the first part was his sister, especially after seeing Yixing so subservient to Luhan - he felt like he owed his sister. Junmyeon’s angel in the second part is Jongdae. Luhan’s angel in the first part is Yixing, he never had an angel in the second part - he was never liberated.  Kris and Tao’s angels following the end of the second part were both Yixing. Kyungsoo’s angel alternates between Jongin, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun.  Minseok has seen the symbols in both parts, having discovered the symbols and using it as an excuse (both times) for Luhan to oppose Junmyeon.  His angels are Luhan, but as a child.  Yixing’s angel in the first part is Tao, the second part Luhan.


  * Why Tao? In the first part, Kris and Tao spent a night with Yixing, and they’re clearly in love with each other. Yixing has only experienced sex as an expression of bodily obsession, and to see someone in love, to see someone have the relationship he yearns for with Luhan, it severely burnt guilt into his mind, especially when he eventually had to kill Tao.


  * In the second part, Lay has sex with people because that’s what he’s good at - that’s what he knows, and he’s giving them his all, and he wants to repay the people he love.  In the first part, Yixing has sex with people because he wants to make Luhan like him, and what Luhan likes, in Yixing’s mind, is sex, and if Luhan doesn’t like him, then Yixing has no purpose to live.  It’s two very different mentalities


  * In the very last scene of this story, Yixing sees all the alternate universes that he has been in, the ones where he’s been in the Labyrinth, the ones where he hasn’t.


  * In the first part, chronologically the first member Yixing sees is Luhan. In this part, chronologically the last member Yixing sees is also Luhan.


  * In this part, Kyungsoo, Kris, and Tao all become liberated eventually.


  * On a side note, certain segments of this work was written in the realization of a Trump presidency.  Food for thought.



 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on twitter @hornet394


End file.
